Eden Hot Lime Mortar

The business Eden Hot Lime Mortar - "Eden" - was formed to provide and promote the use of Hot mixed Lime Mortars. Tim Wells has been making hot mixed mortars since 2001 when he helped on his own barn and house conversion.

The property originally built in the mid 1600’s had been altered and repaired over the years with Portland cement which had created internal damp problems. After removing the cement and replacing with hot mixed lime mortar the house dried out again.

Since working on his own house Tim commenced supplying Hot mixed lime mortar for builders and home owners & DIY enthusiasts for properties predominantly in the North of England but many areas of England, Scotland and Wales.

The quick lime is produced in Cumbria and the Company tries to use local aggregates, but does make specialist mixes to order. From small beginnings the company now retails, promotes and trains builders and homeowners in the restoration of properties. New technology and traditional practices have come together to help restore our older houses. Over the last 100 years we, as a nation, have been trying to seal, tank, inject our properties and only caused more problems – houses need to breathe. With all the floods this century, the houses which are lime pointed, rendered and plastered are drying themselves out, the tanked ones have had to be stripped out and set off again. The mortar needs to be softer than the stone, cement in most cases is far, far harder than the stone, the water is not able to escape back through the cement pointing/render, therefore it starts to go further into the wall and finally comes through into the living areas. Decorators have tried to put tin foil on the walls, builders have tried to put stud walls up or tank them but to no avail! HOUSES NEED LIME - HOT LIME MORTAR - it's breathable and the house will dry itself out.

We are now removing concrete floors and replacing them with Geocell glass (LABC registered) and lime crete floors; they are drier, warmer and let the water escape not chasing the water up the walls.

He came recommended as a supplier and since then I have bought all my insulated lime plaster and lime for the building work from him. He explained everything, and gave us a demo regarding the lime plaster. Nothing was too much trouble - I would not hesitate to recommend him to others!

Kathryn Walmsley

Back in 2013 we bought what we thought would be a fantastic weekend retreat in Cumbria. Unfortunately, despite multiple viewings in all weathers and a comprehensive survey at a big cost we very quickly found out we had damp, musty smells, rot and cracking plaster. It was at this point we started to learn about old buildings – ours was built in 1843 – and the concept of breathing. We also learned that most builders do not understand old buildings and as a consequence ours was covered in gypsum on the inside and cement render on the outside together with u-pvc windows so there was zero ventilation. It was early into this process of discovery that we found Eden Hot Lime Mortar and we made contact with Tim Wells.

Tim proved to be an incredible source of knowledge and expertise and we quickly embarked upon what is going to be a lengthy process of restoring the house to the original construction so it can breathe. So far we have removed render on one side of the house, repointed in lime mortar, plastered the interior walls with lime insulation and lime plaster and installed a solid breathable floor. We’ve got a long way to go but we are confident we are going to get there. Tim has been incredibly helpful and generous with his time and advice, whenever we have had difficulties he’s always had an encouraging word as well as a solution. If Tim is unsure he seems to have access to a network of professionals all expert in the restoration of old houses. When we’ve been flapping and unsure Tim has come up with a solution and his quiet unflappable style has been so reassuring.

For anyone else restoring an old house I can't recommend Tim and his knowledge highly enough – call him and you’ll suddenly have a friend sharing your challenges.